The present invention relates to a word spelling and educational device and more particularly to such a device which is geared to help a child in learning to correctly spell words and to use a dictionary.
Learning to spell, entails skills similar to those used in learning to read and additionally requires frequent repetition of the words one is learning to spell. In learning to spell and use words it is helpful to know the definition of the word that you are spelling. Similarly, in learning the definition of a word it is important to know how to spell it.
Frequently children have problems in using dictionaries because they do not know the spelling of the word they are looking up. If the child is misspelling the word it is exceedingly difficult to find the word in a dictionary to ascertain its correct spelling and its definition. This tends to be a bigger problem for children than for adults since frequently a child's misspelling is further from the actual spelling of a word than an adult's may be and accordingly it is less likely that the correctly spelled word will be found by a scan of a few dictionary pages.
In teaching children to spell, as in teaching other things, it is helpful to make the learning process interesting and thus hold the child's attention. This technique has been used in many computerized and non-computerized ways over the years. Lessons are packaged in a game-type format so that the child is more enthused about the learning process. Additionally, different types of repetition have been used to help children learn in spelling. For example, flash cards are a tried and true method for helping children to learn spelling and other things. The use of a game format in an electronic handheld learning aid to facilitate learning spelling is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,487 issued Dec. 20, 1983 to Laughlon and Philpott.
In designing a spelling aid device for children, it is useful to have the device verify correct spellings and to correct misspelled words by offering correctly spelled possibilities.
With the advent of personal computers there have been developed different computerized educational aids for children. These aids are very helpful but computers are expensive and they cannot be easily transported from place to place.
Spelling correctors that are hand held and portable are known in the art. Although these are very useful they are not specifically designed for children and are not adapted for learning games. Additionally the words that children learn vary from time to time and these known hand held cannot adapt to this changing list of words. Machines which contain dictionary definitions require additional memory and are thus more expensive.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hand held electronic educational device which is specifically designed to be used by children learning to spell.
Another important object of this invention is to provide a device that will aid a child in making a transition from using machines that provide an answer to using reference works and in learning to look up a answer.
Further objects of the present invention are to provide such an electronic educational device which is relatively inexpensive and which can be used to play educational games.
Still a further object of this invention is to provide such a electronic educational device which can be customized to a particular child's needs.
A more specific object of this invention is to provide such an electronic educational device which interfaces with a printed dictionary to provide word definitions.
Applicant refers to co-pending application Ser. No. 199,060, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,340, filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office on May 12, 1989 entitled Electronic Spelling Machine for a disclosure of the type of spelling correcting arrangement that is incorporated as part of the device of this invention. That patent application, together with U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,811 issued Dec. 25, 1984 and entitled String Comparator Device System Circuit and Method and U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,618 issued May 16, 1989 and entitled Electronic Spelling Machine, provides a sufficient disclosure of the spelling correction technology that is embodied in this invention so that such need not be repeated herein.